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  • Jones Fastest in First XFINITY Practice at Kentucky

    Jones Fastest in First XFINITY Practice at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Erik Jones topped the chart in first XFINITY Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.728 and a speed of 181.647 mph. Daniel Suarez was second in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 29.756 and a speed of 181.476 mph. Sam Hornish Jr. was third in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.783 and a speed of 181.311 mph. Ty Dillon was fourth in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet with a time of 29.852 and a speed of 180.892 mph. Brennan Poole rounded out the top-five in his No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.910 and a speed of 180.542 mph.

    Matt Tifft was sixth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. Elliott Sadler was seventh in his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Justin Allgaier was eighth in his No. 7 JRM Chevrolet. Josh Berry was ninth in his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet. Brandon Jones rounded out the top-10 in his No. 33 RCR Chevrolet.

    Darrell Wallace Jr. was 11th, Brendan Gaughan was 12th, Ryan Reed was 14th, Blake Koch was 16th and Ryan Sieg rounded out the Chase drivers in 19th.

    The cars are back on the track at 6 p.m.

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  • Erik Jones Wins at Chicagoland, Enters NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase as Top Seed

    Erik Jones Wins at Chicagoland, Enters NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase as Top Seed

    By Reid Spencer/NASCAR Wire Service

    JOLIET, Ill. – Kyle Busch opened the door, and that was all the invitation Erik Jones needed.

    When Busch, the polesitter for Saturday’s The Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, spun with a tire down while leading on Lap 182 of 200, Jones took full advantage of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate’s misfortune.

    The driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota restarted sixth on Lap 187 after Busch brought out the eighth caution of the afternoon and quickly closed the gap on Elliott Sadler, who restarted second and grabbed the lead from JR Motorsports teammate Clint Bowyer, who had stayed out on old tires.

    Jones caught and passed Sadler on Lap 192. Race runner-up Kyle Larson followed four laps later but couldn’t catch Jones before the finish. In the final four laps, Jones moved up the track to take Larson’s preferred racing line and crossed the finish line .392 seconds ahead of Larson, who brushed the outside wall on the final lap while trying to close in on the race winner.

    “It was tough,” said Jones, who won for the second time at the 1.5-mile track and the fourth time in his rookie year. “I knew we were in a good spot on tires, but we pretty far back – think we restarted sixth there.

    “I didn’t know if my Hisense Camry was going to have enough time to get back up to the front, but we had a really good restart and got clear to third and then just had to go chase Elliott down. It was a matter of time before we got around him. What an awesome day!”

    With four victories this season, Jones enters the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase as the No. 1 seed heading to the Chase opener next Saturday at Kentucky Speedway.

    “It’s a lot of momentum,” Jones said. “I wish this was our first round right here. We’ll go into Kentucky definitely with a full head of steam and are due for another win there. Our mile-and-a-half program is great – it’s been great all year.

    “To finally get a first mile-and-a-half win of the year – just looking forward to getting to Kentucky next weekend and try to chase down another one.”

    Saturday’s event finalized the 12-driver Chase field, as Blake Koch and Ryan Sieg clinched the final two spots with finishes of 15th and 12th, respectively.

    The full Chase field, in order of seeding, consists of Erik Jones, Sadler, Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Darrell Wallace Jr., Brendan Gaughan, Brennan Poole, Ryan Sieg, Ryan Reed, Brandon Jones, Blake Koch.

    Sadler finished third on Saturday, followed by Suarez and Allgaier.

    Larson recovered from a pit road speeding penalty to record his eighth top-five finish in 12 starts this year.

    “I knew I could get the top (lane) going, but I knew when I got the top going, Erik would move up just when I got to him,” Larson said. “He did, and I tried to carry a lot of throttle off of (Turn) 2 and maybe get a run on him, but I got into the wall.”

    Busch led 154 laps and recovered from his spin to finish 13th. All told, 11 different drivers led at least one lap, including the top eight drivers in the finishing order.

    NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Drive for Safety 300
    Chicagoland Speedway
    Joliet, Illinois
    Saturday, September 17, 2016

    1. (5) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 200.
    2. (8) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 200.
    3. (4) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200.
    4. (2) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 200.
    5. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
    6. (7) Clint Bowyer(i), Chevrolet, 200.
    7. (9) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 200.
    8. (12) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200.
    9. (6) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 200.
    10. (40) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 200.
    11. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.
    12. (17) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
    13. (1) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200.
    14. (19) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 200.
    15. (13) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 200.
    16. (18) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
    17. (20) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 200.
    18. (23) David Starr, Chevrolet, 199.
    19. (26) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 199.
    20. (15) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 198.
    21. (11) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 198.
    22. (21) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 198.
    23. (29) Martin Roy, Chevrolet, 198.
    24. (25) BJ McLeod #, Ford, 197.
    25. (22) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 196.
    26. (31) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 196.
    27. (33) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 194.
    28. (32) Ray Black Jr #, Chevrolet, 184.
    29. (34) Jordan Anderson(i), Chevrolet, Transmission, 151.
    30. (36) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Fuel Pump, 126.
    31. (28) Jeff Green, Toyota, Wheel Bearing, 110.
    32. (14) Ryan Reed, Ford, Accident, 101.
    33. (27) Travis Kvapil(i), Ford, Engine, 82.
    34. (35) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 49.
    35. (39) Spencer Boyd(i), Chevrolet, Too Slow, 43.
    36. (38) Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 36.
    37. (30) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Accident, 27.
    38. (37) Carl Long, Dodge, Wheel Bearing, 16.
    39. (16) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 9.
    40. (24) Matt DiBenedetto(i), Toyota, Electrical, 3.

    Average Speed of Race Winner:  120.576 mph.
    Time of Race:  02 Hrs, 29 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.392 Seconds.
    Caution Flags:  8 for 38 laps.
    Lead Changes:  22 among 11 drivers.

    Lap Leaders:   K. Busch(i) 1; D. Suarez 2-5; K. Busch(i) 6-10; D. Suarez 11; K. Busch(i) 12-27; T. Kvapil(i) 28-29; K. Busch(i) 30-31; K. Larson(i) 32-40; K. Busch(i) 41-79; E. Sadler 80; J. Allgaier 81; K. Busch(i) 82-103; J. Logano(i) 104-108; K. Busch(i) 109-154; B. Gaughan 155; R. Preece # 156-157; K. Busch(i) 158-164; E. Jones # 165; K. Busch(i) 166-181; J. Allgaier 182-183; C. Bowyer(i) 184-186; E. Sadler 187-191; E. Jones # 192-200.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Busch(i) 9 times for 154 laps; E. Jones # 2 times for 10 laps; K. Larson(i) 1 time for 9 laps; E. Sadler 2 times for 6 laps; D. Suarez 2 times for 5 laps; J. Logano(i) 1 time for 5 laps; J. Allgaier 2 times for 3 laps; C. Bowyer(i) 1 time for 3 laps; R. Preece # 1 time for 2 laps; T. Kvapil(i) 1 time for 2 laps; B. Gaughan 1 time for 1 lap.

    Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler – 891; D. Suarez – 832; J. Allgaier – 823; T. Dillon – 807; E. Jones # – 797; B. Gaughan – 789; B. Poole # – 756; B. Jones # – 733; D. Wallace Jr – 680; R. Reed – 635.

  • Erik Jones Nabs the XFINITY Pole at Bristol

    Erik Jones Nabs the XFINITY Pole at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Erik Jones will lead the field to the green flag of tonight’s XFINITY Series race at Thunder Valley.

    The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Food City 300 after posting a new track record time of 15.002 and a speed of 127.903 mph. It’s his 10th pole in 48 career XFINITY Series starts, seventh of the season and third in four starts at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Kyle Busch will start second in his No. 18 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 15.041 and a speed of 127.571 mph. Daniel Suarez will start third in his No. 19 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 15.173 and a speed of 126.461 mph. Brandon Jones will start fourth in his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 15.191 and a speed of 126.312 mph. Austin Dillon will round out the top-five starters in his No. 2 RCR Chevrolet after posting a time of 15.244 and a speed of 125.872 mph.

    Darrell Wallace Jr. will start sixth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Kyle Larson will start seventh in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Justin Allgaier will start eighth in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Regan Smith will start ninth in his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet. Ty Dillon will round out the top-10 starters in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.

    Brad Keselowski will start 11th. Jeremy Clements will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    With 41 cars entered, Timmy Hill was the lone driver that failed to qualify.

    Twenty-five Chevrolet’s, one Dodge, six Ford’s and eight Toyota’s will comprise the 40-car field for tonight’s race.

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  • Furniture Row Racing Expanding to Two-Car Team in 2017

    Furniture Row Racing Expanding to Two-Car Team in 2017

    Furniture Row Racing confirmed the worst kept secret in the NASCAR world of this past week in that Erik Jones will drive their second car in 2017.

    Speaking in the media center at Watkins Glen International, the team announced that they would expand to a second full-time team starting in 2017. The car will be the No. 77 Toyota and will be driven by the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion.

    “It’s all come together in the last month,” said team owner Barney Visser. “To find a driver like Erik, a sponsor like 5-hour Energy, along with our technical agreement with Gibbs, we think we’re going to be able to run right up where we need to run. We’re very excited to get it all pulled together here.”

    “I was anxious for this day,” Jones said about the announcement. “I’m excited to be here. It’s cool to be a part of Furniture Row and with them growing, and along with 5-hour Energy too. A big company like that is cool this early in my racing career and something that I’ve always wanted. It’s a good feel all around. To see it come together in the past month or so has been a pretty cool experience for me. I have a lot left to do this year, but I’m excited for next year.”

    Jones is signed to drive the car for just this season.

    On the status of getting a charter, Visser said there are “several charters out there that we’re hearing are available. We’ve been looking at it some. We’re not exactly sure where we’re going to be on that. We are going to get a charter, but we’re not sure who we’re going to get it from yet.”

    At the moment, no crew chief has been named to the team.

    “We’re certainly looking to see what the best fits would be in starting that process,” said FRR President Joe Garone. “There’s a lot of those kinds of things ahead of us. We’ll start tackling that after this announcement.”

  • The Final Word – Pocono proved a great place to be, whether you be 4 or 24 years old

    The Final Word – Pocono proved a great place to be, whether you be 4 or 24 years old

    NASCAR’s most popular driver had his problems this past weekend. He was taken out of his ride by his car owner over some behavioral issues, then later got into hot water by getting into cool water. Barefoot and with his sneakers laying nearby half submerged, four-year-old Keelan Harvick was having a great time. After seeing the little lad sprawled right out in a puddle of water, so were a few of the other drivers. Action for most might have been put off to Monday at Pocono, but for one fellow, a rainy Sunday is a good day.

    Monday. Well, Monday was a great day for Chris Buescher. With the fog rolling in at the Pennsylvania 400, he stayed out while others pitted to have the fuel to run the final 22 laps that never were as the race was red flagged. With impending stormy weather ensuring things would not be re-started, the 24-year old claimed his first win in his 27th Cup start. Team owner Bob Jenkins took his second career victory, to go with David Ragan’s 2013 win at Talladega. The win does not put Buescher automatically into the Chase, but he has just six points to make up over the next five races to move into the Top 30 in points to do just that. The man he needs to catch? B.K. Racing’s David Ragan.

    Brad Keselowski, Regan Smith, and Keelan’s dad, Kevin Harvick were next, with Tony Stewart rounding out the Top Five. Martin Truex Jr. looked real good for about 20 laps. After his fresh right front went down to send him into the fence, it went all bad. Joey Logano looked real good, too, at least until Chase Elliott drifted up and they both drifted the wall a good one. None of this trio finished among the Top 30.

    Kyle Larson went in seeking to at least finish ahead of the law firm of Kahne, Bayne, and Blaney to keep his Chase position well secured. He did, finishing sixth on the day, while Ryan Blaney was 11th, Kasey Kahne 15th, and Trevor Bayne was 19th. That means Kahne sits 20 points out, with Bayne and Blaney 28 away. However, if Buescher moves into the Top 30 and thus, among the 16 Chasers, Jamie McMurray becomes the new target and he sits nine points ahead of Larson.

    Jeff Gordon was 27th in his 799th career race. As for the man he replaced, Dale Earnhardt Jr., he falls 47 points out as he recovers from his concussion issue, and out of the conversation for the present. Gordon, by the way, was one of seven drivers at Pocono who were 40 years of age or older. McMurray, Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Stewart, and Greg Biffle were the others. Only Elliott and Blaney were younger than the race winner.

    But the kids are coming. In Iowa, 20-year old Erik Jones won the XFINITY race, his third victory of the season. The lone Cup representative, Keselowski, finished eighth. I bet he feels like a loser. As for the Camping World truck event in Pocono, 19-year old William Byron claimed his fifth race of the season. The kid has taken four of the last six contests. Would it not be nice to talk about those boys on their way up, and a bit less about Keselowski and Kyle Busch when it comes to these series? Of course, it would. One day, maybe the seven-race cut off for rookie eligibility might be used as a cut-off for the number of races one can run outside of their registered division in a season. Maybe.

    Talking about kids, check out this weekend’s CARS Late Model Stock Tour at Orange County in North Carolina on YouTube. Sixteen-year-old Chase Purdy was racing hard and turned 24-year old Ryan Wilson. Wilson was not happy, got out of his car and stood on the track to stop Purdy under caution. He then took down the window net and punched the young man a few times. Something tells me they run under different rules than NASCAR. Oh, by the way, Purdy finished the 100 lap race in seventh, while Wilson’s best car in his stable is now junk.

    Meanwhile, where was Keelan on Monday? Maybe dad took his car off of the blocks and let our new favorite return to racing. As for the young Harvick’s favorite driver? Well, that would be Kyle Busch, of course.

  • Erik Jones Checks Out On Field, Wins XFINITY Series Race At Iowa

    Erik Jones Checks Out On Field, Wins XFINITY Series Race At Iowa

    Erik Jones continued the dominance of Joe Gibbs Racing in the XFINITY series on Saturday by winning the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway in his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota. Jones won his third career race and his third of the season by passing Ty Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for the lead with 16 laps to go and won the race having led 154 of 250 laps.

    “It’s a great day,” Jones said after the race. “We had a great car. One that definitely deserved to win the race. The fastest car I feel like won tonight, which is always a good feeling. It was an awesome day for us.

    “I feel like we deserved to win when we came here earlier this year, we had a really fast car. It was nice to get some redemption for that one.”

    It’s the 13th win in the first 19 races of the season for JGR.

    Jones led most of the race from his start on the front row in second before the final caution with 100 laps to go. Jones had a mediocre pit stop and was beaten off pit road by Dillon and Elliott Sadler. Dillon was able to keep a comfortable lead for the next 60 or so green flag laps before fading away to being 3.533 seconds behind Jones in second at the finish.

    “I want the win so bad,” said a disappointed Dillon, who has not won since 2014 at Indianapolis. “That was all I had. They (Joe Gibbs Racing) are good right now. That was all I had.

    “I’m proud of my guys. They gave us a great opportunity tonight. My heart’s been broken every race since Indy. I want to get in victory lane again. We’re close; we just have to get a little better.”

    Sadler finished third and took over the points lead after Daniel Suarez struggled after that last caution. First, Suarez got into Josh Berry on the last restart. Then, he was forced to retire from the race with 76 laps to go due to engine problems. The Monterrey, Mexico native ended the night 30th after starting from the pole.

    Brennan Poole roared his way through the field from his starting position of 25th to fourth by the time the checkered flag waved. It’s just the second top five in the young Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s career. Dakoda Armstrong, in the No. 18 Toyota for JGR this week instead of his usual ride with JGL Racing, rounded out the top five in fifth.

    All told there were seven lead changes among four leaders, with the field being shown the yellow caution flag six times. Darrell Wallace Jr. had two accidents during the race and ended the night in 27th.

    Sam Hornish Jr., the part-time driver who led 183 of 250 laps en route to a victory at Iowa in June for JGR, finished sixth in this race for Richard Childress Racing. Brad Keselowski was the only Sprint Cup series regular in the field and returned to Pocono with a finish in eighth for his efforts.

    Complete Results:

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  • The Final Word – Welcome to Indianapolis, welcome to Kyle’s world

    The Final Word – Welcome to Indianapolis, welcome to Kyle’s world

    It was the Brickyard 400, presented by Kyle Busch. He led the first lap, he led the last one and led most of the laps in between. If the focal point of a race is at the front, if the drama of a race is to see who is leading the way, this competition was pretty much done when they waved the green flag. In short, Busch kicked their combined asses to take his fourth of the season, the 38th of his career, and his second consecutive Brickyard.

    Oh, Kyle also won Saturday’s junior circuit race. 38 Cup wins, 83 junior wins, 45 truck wins (albeit in a series no longer broadcast to Canada), 166 victories in all. Man, that looks impressive, until you remember that all but five of them were claimed after he became a full-time major leaguer. That’s 123 wins against minor-league opposition, almost all on the same weekends and the same tracks the big boys (and girls) ran. That begs the question, just what in the hell is the point to the XFINITY and Camping World Truck series? If the inclusion of Cup guys is to draw out fans to see the spectacle of the top dogs slumming, it sure is not working. I believe there were more folks working the various concessions than were in the grandstands at Indianapolis. It was downright embarrassing. Still, I guess there are some who do not mind being embarrassed, while at the same time the vast majority of us are allowed to do other things with our Friday and Saturday afternoons.

    By the way, Daniel Suarez, Elliott Sadler, Ty Dillon, Justin Allgaier, and Erik Jones are the top five guys in the XFINITY series at present. They have a combined four wins between them in 18 events. Kyle Busch has won seven in 11 starts. Watching those who dream of moving up and those wrapping up their careers in moving down, play second fiddle every damn week to the moonlighters from the Show, is obviously no longer of interest for a vast majority of us. Good Lord. So ends my sermon. Amen.

    Sunday brought us the final appearances at the venue of Tony Stewart and, as it turned out, Jeff Gordon once again. The FOX announcer suspended his brief retirement to substitute for the ailing Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a couple of races, finishing 13th while Stewart came home two spots better. The Columbus, Indiana native made one hell of a move on that opening lap to move into second. I wonder if Kyle saw it in his rear view mirror?

    Due to his absence, Junior drops out of a Chase place. Kyle Larson is 11 points ahead, with even Kasey Kahne sitting a point ahead of Earnhardt, who now is 18th in the derby. Jamie McMurray got a piece of the late race troubles, winding up 19th but remains 26 points to the good in 15th place. A quartet who have drifted almost out of touch were Trevor Bayne (30th), Ryan Blaney (36th), A.J. Allmendinger (38th), and Greg Biffle (39th). Not a good day to experience bad tidings.

    As a television event, it was not bad. The final dozen laps were downright exciting, as wrecks often are. Too bad it was a one horse pony show. Too bad only 50,000 folks, according to one news source, bothered to turn out to this “crown jewel” NASCAR event. Compare that to the 300,000 who took in the Indianapolis 500 in May. Just imagine how many, or few, took in Saturday’s preliminary contest.

    Next Sunday, it is the triangle known as Pocono. Gordon leads the way with six career wins there, so a seventh would be a nice way to go out one more time. He was third last year. A dozen others on this weekend’s grid all have shared the winning experience there at this two-race venue. Biffle and Kahne could use another one about now.

    As for Kyle Busch, he is 0 for 23 at Pocono, with a pair of runner-up finishes. He was 31st in June. I should mention that brother Kurt Busch has three wins, so if any ole Busch will do, you might be in luck. Back in June, both Chase Elliott and Matt Kenseth ran strong, but it was Kurt who led the final 32 laps for the victory.

    Now, if Kurt is not your boy, I have sad news. With the XFINITY series running Saturday in Iowa, Kyle might not be running. I am truly sorry.

  • Jones Fastest in Third XFINITY Practice at Kentucky

    Jones Fastest in Third XFINITY Practice at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Erik Jones topped the chart in third XFINITY Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the third practice session with a time of 28.754 and a speed of 187.800 mph. Daniel Suárez was second in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 28.816 and a speed of 187.396 mph. Kyle Busch was third in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 28.864 and a speed of 187.084 mph. Ty Dillon was fourth in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.285 and a speed of 184.395 mph. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford with a time of 29.418 and a speed of 183.561 mph.

    JJ Yeley was sixth in his No. 44 TriStar Motorsports Toyota. Brad Keselowski was seventh in his No. 22 Penske Ford. Austin Dillon was eighth in his No. 2 RCR Chevrolet. Darrell Wallace Jr. was ninth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-10 in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Allgaier was the only driver to post a 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 181.457 mph.

    The XFINITY Series is back on track one last time Thursday evening at 7 p.m. for final practice.

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  • Erik Jones Fastest at Kentucky in Second XFINITY Practice

    Erik Jones Fastest at Kentucky in Second XFINITY Practice

    SPARTA, Ky. — Erik Jones topped the chart in second XFINITY Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.994 and a speed of 186.245 mph. Daniel Suárez was second in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 29.247 and a speed of 184.634 mph. Kyle Busch was third in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 29.291 and a speed of 184.357 mph. Brad Keselowski was fourth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 29.475 and a speed of 183.206 mph. Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.476 and a speed of 183.200 mph.

    Justin Allgaier was sixth in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Cole Custer was seventh in his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney was eighth in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Brennan Poole was ninth in his No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Blake Koch rounded out the top-10 in his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.

    Justin Marks, who’s fastest single lap was 18th fastest, was the only driver to post a 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 179.116 mph.

    The XFINITY Series is back on track later this afternoon at 4:00.

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  • Kyle Larson Wins Rained Out Inaugural XFINITY Race at Pocono

    Kyle Larson Wins Rained Out Inaugural XFINITY Race at Pocono

    LONG POND, Pa. – Kyle Larson battled competitors and the weather to score the victory in the inaugural Pocono Green 250 XFINITY Series race in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The driver of the No. 42 Cessna/NTT Data Group Chevrolet received the checkered flag after the race was rain delayed and then finally called.

    This was Larson’s fourth victory in 82 NASCAR XFINITY Series races, his first victory for the 2016 season and his fifth top-10 finish in 2016.  Larson’s last win came at Homestead in the 2015 season finale.

    “I’m happy with it,” Larson said. “We were good, better than I thought we’d be. Shiplett (Mike Shiplett, crew chief) and all the guys did a really good job adjusting on the car. When we put on stickers, I got closer to the feel I wanted.”

    “I didn’t really think I would win today but it all worked out. All in all, a really solid day.”

    Erik Jones, in the No. 20 SportClips Haircuts Toyota, finished second after starting from the pole. This was his first top-10 finish in his first XFINITY race at Pocono and his seventh top-10 finish in 2016.

    “There was just not enough time,” Jones said. “I thought we by far had one of the best cars in the field but we couldn’t get back in the lead before it started raining.

    “It’s pretty frustrating. It’s kind of been that kind of year for us. Today was another one of those days where I thought we had a shot at the win but it didn’t work out for us.

    “But nice to know we can be that fast and nice to know we can contend for the wins. We will move on from here.”

    The driver of the No. 3 Rheem Chevrolet Ty Dillon finished in position three at the “Tricky Triangle.”

    “We put ourselves in a good position and I felt like we were a top-five race car,” Dillon said.  “We never changed left tires the whole race. When the caution came out, we just weren’t as good anymore and that brought the Gibbs cars closer. My only hope was that I could run them back down.

    “If it had stayed green, I thought that we would have had an opportunity, but all in all a good day for us and a good finish in third.”

    There were five cautions in the race, the first for a competition yellow, the second for an accident in Turn 2 for the No. 7  of Justin Allgaier, the third for debris in Turn 2, the fourth for a hard hit for both the No. 16 and No. 51 of Ryan Reed and Jeremy Clements respectively. And, of course, the final caution was what ended the race, for rain.

    “We had issues from the start,” Reed, driver of the No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford, said “We started off getting strapped in the car and didn’t have any radio communication. I could hear the spotter but couldn’t communicate with that.

    “We fire off and were on the splitter really hard so balance wasn’t very good. We were getting it better, using hand signals, and then we got racing with the 39 car and he got on our door and we got loose. I think when we got into him it got the right rear tire and eventually it went down.

    “We had a little tire smoke but it went away and I thought it cleared up. We were racing with the 62 and he got inside of us and I thought it took the air off and we went into one and the tire let go and here we are.

    “I am just thankful to Lilly Diabetes and American Diabetes Association for sticking with us. I feel like we are making progress. These days are really tough with adversity from the start. We will not give up. I was hoping to get our Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang in victory lane for everyone at home watching on their XFINITY TV, but it just wasn’t meant to be today.”

    Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, both doing double duty at Pocono this weekend, finished fourth and fifth respectively.

    “We were trying to be off strategy,” Logano said. “Our SKF Ford Mustang wasn’t as fast as it needed to be so we were trying to do anything we could to win it.

    “It was interesting for sure. It would have been interesting to see what would happen if we were able to go back green.”

    Elliott Sadler, Paul Menard, Brandon Jones, Daniel Suarez, and Alex Bowman completed the top-10 finishing order in the inaugural XFINITY Pocono race.

    Daniel Suarez remains in the lead in the point standings with Elliott Sadler behind by just 11 points.

    Complete Finishing Order:

    1. (4) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 53.

                   2. (1) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 53.

                   3. (8) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 53.

                   4. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 53.

                   5. (5) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 53.

                   6. (6) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 53.

                   7. (7) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 53.

                   8. (14) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 53.

                   9. (3) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 53.

                   10. (10) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 53.

                   11. (16) Aric Almirola(i), Ford, 53.

                   12. (13) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 53.

                   13. (11) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 53.

                   14. (17) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 53.

                   15. (12) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 53.

                   16. (40) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 53.

                   17. (19) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 53.

                   18. (22) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 53.

                   19. (29) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 53.

                   20. (30) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 53.

                   21. (26) Ray Black Jr #, Chevrolet, 53.

                   22. (25) BJ McLeod #, Ford, 53.

                   23. (34) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 53.

                   24. (35) Alex Guenette, Chevrolet, 53.

                   25. (36) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 53.

                   26. (27) Brandon Gdovic, Chevrolet, 52.

                   27. (24) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 52.

                   28. (38) Todd Peck, Ford, 52.

                   29. (15) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 51.

                   30. (39) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 50.

                   31. (18) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 39.

                   32. (32) TJ Bell, Dodge, 39.

                   33. (23) Ryan Reed, Ford, Accident, 38.

                   34. (31) Jeff Green, Toyota, Header, 30.

                   35. (28) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Vibration, 29.

                   36. (20) Josh Wise(i), Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 23.

                   37. (37) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 22.

                   38. (33) Carl Long, Toyota, Brakes, 21.

                   39. (9) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Accident, 20.

                   40. (21) Matt DiBenedetto(i), Toyota, Transmission, 6.